The present invention relates to ball valves and, in particular, to a dual inlet ball valve for controlling the flow of gas to a fireplace log lighting device.
Rising stem valves having dual inlets have been developed for gas and water distribution systems. FIG. 3 discloses such a dual inlet rising stem valve. Dual inlet valves have the advantage of allowing an installer of the valve to connect the valve directly to either a horizontally extending conduit or a vertically extending conduit. The installer does not have to worry about modifying the line with a "T" or an elbow to provide a pipe directionally adapted to receive the valve.
A drawback to rising stem valves is that the up and down motion of the valve stem results in wear on the packing for the valve stem and can lead to leaks of water or gas through the valve stem packing. Ball valves reduce the likelihood of leaks by eliminating the need for the up and down motion of the valve stem through valve stem packing.